Hackers steal data of 850 NSmen and Mindef staff

The personal details of 850 national servicemen and staff at the Ministry of Defence (Mindef) were stolen last month in what the ministry described as a "targeted and carefully planned" cyber attack possibly aimed at accessing official secrets. Mindef has ruled out casual hackers, criminal gangs and an inside job, leading experts to believe that the attack, the first in which Mindef lost data, could be the work of foreign governments. Early last month, Mindef discovered that a vulnerability in its I-net system had been exploited, resulting in the loss of NRIC numbers, telephone numbers and birth dates of 850 personnel. The I-net system provides Internet access on thousands of dedicated terminals to national servicemen and other employees working in Mindef's offices and Singapore Armed Forces premises, such as army camps and naval bases. At a briefing yesterday, Mindef's de...